Our History

    The Greene/Sumter Enterprise Community, Inc. (GSEC) serves an economically distressed area where 36.35% of the 24,772 residents in the two counties live in poverty, and where double digit official  unemployment rates have prevailed for decades.

GSEC is part of the Alabama Black Belt, one of the poorest rural sections of the nation with an agrarian heritage including the lingering effects of sharecropping in an industrial revolution. African Americans represent the majority of the population in this area. In January 2002, the Greene/Sumter Enterprise Community was designated by HUD as a Renewal Community (RC). This new designation, which covers all census tracts in both Greene and Sumter Counties, offers new tax incentives for current and potential businesses and industries to invest in the area. Qualified businesses in the Greene/Sumter RC area can earn up to 15 percent wage credit on the first $10,000 earned by each qualified employee, a zero rate on capital gains tax and a deduction of up to $35,000 on capital expenditures. A qualified employee is one that performs all of his or her services and lives within the RC. The tax credit and deductions are for business expenditures within the RC under federal guidelines. These incentives are available to existing businesses as well as new businesses attracted to the area.

    The incentives began January 1, 2002 and scheduled to terminate December 31, 2009. Currently, Congress has not extended the termination of these RC benefits.

    The RC designation and its associated Federal tax incentives, coupled with many state and local tax incentives, give our area a better chance to attract new industries and jobs.